State's oldest movie is a portal to Wausau history

This photo is a still from “The Lumberjack,” a 16-minute silent movie that was filmed in Wausau using local actors. It’s 100 years old, and historians believe it is the oldest intact movie produced in Wisconsin.
(Photo:
Photo courtesy of Flicker Alley
)

WAUSAU – What is likely the oldest surviving movie shot in Wisconsin will be screened in Wausau on Saturday along with a documentary explaining the circumstances in which it was made.

The movie, "The Lumberjack," is a 16-minute romantic silent film about a young mill worker who meets and falls in love with the mill owner's daughter. It was shot in Wausau in 1914, and amateur locals were used as actors. The couple in the film was portrayed by real-life husband and wife Hans and Helen Hagge. Hans Hagge would later become president and chairman of Employers Mutual of Wausau, the precursor to Wausau Insurance.

In 1983, Wausau native and University of Wisconsin-Madison film student Stephen Schaller, now of Nashville, Tenn., produced "When You Wore A Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose," a documentary film that details the making of "The Lumberjack." Schaller's documentary includes interviews with people who had ties to the silent film.

Both movies will be shown at 3 p.m. at the UW Center for Civic Engagement, 625 Stewart Ave. in Wausau, in an event organized by the Marathon County Public Library. The event will include representatives from the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, an affiliate of the Wisconsin Historical Society, who will explain efforts to preserve "The Lumberjack." Wausau musician and music teacher Dan Larson will provide live musical accompaniment to the showing.

In all, the event will provide a multifaceted glimpse into the past, delving into the history of movies, the history of Wausau and the life in pre-World War I America in general. "The Lumberjack" is "this little wealth of information about small-town America," Schaller said.

"The Lumberjack" is important because "it's one of the oldest, maybe the oldest, movie shot in Wisconsin that still exists," said Amy Sloper, the head film archivist for the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. "There were certainly films shot before then, but they haven't been preserved."

"The Lumberjack" was shot by an itinerant filmmaker, Sloper said.

"These filmmakers would travel around a region, stop for a week or two at a time, and make a film in the community starring locals. It also was done with the help of local advertisers," she said. "They would shoot the film over a couple of days, and they were usually really simple stories."

The producers of the movie would then show the films in the theaters of the towns, making money from ticket sales as well as advertising.

"Going to a movie was a really big deal at that time, and to be able to see yourself on the big screen in 1914, when even photographs were not super common in homes, must have been really special," Sloper said. "These (itinerant-made) movies, 'The Lumberjack' in particular, are very valuable in the sense that it presents a whole other side of film-making that isn't well known."

Schaller, who is the son of the late Stanley Schaller, one of the original co-owners of Shepherd & Schaller Sporting Goods, said he knew about "The Lumberjack" as he grew up in the town. A copy of the film was made, probably in the 1950s, he said, and was shown periodically at events, including an early Wausau Festival of the Arts. He was a student at UW-Madison when he made "When You Wore a Tulip."

Schaller, who won't be at the Wausau screening, tracked down people who had memories of or were associated with the film, including the Hagges' son, a man who harvested from the Wisconsin River deadhead logs (logs that had sunk when they were floated down river to sawmills) and a woman who played the organ for silent films. Each had a different perspective of Wausau, the early movie-goingexperience or the making of "The Lumberjack" itself, Schaller said.

He also used the documentary to compare 1980s-era Wausau with 1914-era Wausau.

"It becomes a bit surprising," Schaller said. "Some people are a bit shocked, because there is a price to progress, and there are things in Wausau in 1914 that are no longer in existence."

During the making of "When You Wore a Tulip," Schaller found the original copy of "The Lumberjack." The version of the film has since been restored by the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research.

"The Lumberjack" is a rather disjointed story, Schaller said; his documentary helps make sense of the original and offers a glimpse into a period of history that was soon to be shattered by the impact of World War I.

"When You Wore a Tulip" is an "unusual topic for a small-town history, but it worked out very, very well, I think," Schaller said. "To my critical eye, the movie still works. It looks good, and the people in it are delightful and funny."

Keith Uhlig can be reached at 715-845-0651. Find him on Twitter as @UhligK.

— Greater Wausau is coverage that celebrates the good things about life and people in the greater Wausau area. If you have a story idea, email Editor Mark Treinen at mtreinen@wdhmedia.com or call 715-845-0655.

If you go

What: Screening of "The Lumberjack," a 1914 silent film made in Wausau and "When You Wore A Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose," a documentary about "The Lumberjack" made in 1983 by Wausau native Stephen Schaller

When: 3 p.m. Saturday

Where: UW Center for Civic Engagement, 625 Stewart Ave., Wausau

Cost: Free

Contact: For more information, people may call 715-261-7230.

To purchase copies

The website www.flickeralley.com offers a set of movies regarding itinerant filmmakers called "We're In The Movies: Palace of Silents & Itinerant Filmmaking," which includes "The Lumberjack" and "When You Wore A Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose." The cost is $34.95, and those who attend Saturday's screening of "The Lumberjack" will receive a promotional code for a discount.